


3 p.m.

by Traviosita9124



Series: Hour by Hour [23]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, High School AU, secret dating au, teenagers au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 22:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11300118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Traviosita9124/pseuds/Traviosita9124
Summary: With her eyes squeezed shut and notecards tapping against her fingers, Jemma rehearsed her graduation speech. The notecards were for show; she’d had the thing memorized for a week at least, but there was something comforting about having them in her hands, even as they warped and disintegrated. It wasn’t the speech getting to her, no, Jemma was perfectly capable of public speaking.It was who she’d be sharing the dais with that had her heart beating wildly and stomach in knots.





	3 p.m.

“Good afternoon families, friends, and fellow graduates. As our time comes to a close…”

 

With her eyes squeezed shut and notecards tapping against her fingers, Jemma rehearsed her graduation speech. The notecards were for show; she’d had the thing memorized for a week at least, but there was something comforting about having them in her hands, even as they warped and disintegrated. It wasn’t the speech getting to her, no, Jemma was perfectly capable of public speaking. 

 

It was who she’d be sharing the dais with that had her heart beating wildly and stomach in knots. 

 

_ He won’t be here _ , Jemma told herself, nibbling her lower lip.  _ He didn’t even bother to show up to practice this week. He won’t be here. _

 

Jemma opened her eyes and began to pace as she rehearsed, doing her best to block out the noise of the crowd as she did so. She managed to do it until, during her third pass through, the door to the holding room opened, breaking her attention. 

 

“Just wait here. Once the procession starts, just follow Jemma. Your seat is next to hers.”

 

Ms. McCormick, the senior faculty advisor was speaking, but Fitz only had eyes for Jemma as he nodded his understanding. Jemma came to an abrupt halt, her speech cut off mid-sentence as her focused narrowed to him. After years of seeing Fitz with his uniform shirt untucked and tie dangling loose, it was odd to see him looking so polished, but Jemma could clearly see a neatly tied tie and a stiff white collar peeking out from the neck of his gown. 

 

He looked distinctly uncomfortable, and Jemma found her lips curling upward despite herself. It was nice to see Fitz looking uncomfortable for once. 

 

“Hi, Fitz. Didn’t think you’d be here.”

 

He huffed out a chuckle at that, blue eyes drifting down to the mortarboard he had clutched in his hands. Fitz fidgeted with it a bit before answer. 

 

“T’ be honest, I wasn’t so sure, either, until my mum had somethin’ t’ say about it.”

 

Jemma couldn’t help but chuckle at that. Fitz’ mother was not what one would call imposing, being even shorter than her son, but she was certainly a force of nature. She could see how a few choice words from her would compel her son to show up at his graduation. Jemma was so taken by the idea of Mrs. Fitz bullying her son into his cap and gown that she didn’t notice Fitz edging closer until he was right in front of her, taking her notecards from her hands and setting them to the side. 

 

“Couldn’t miss hearin’ the valedictorian speak, either.”

 

Fitz’ proximity made it difficulty to breathe, much to Jemma’s consternation. There was a part of her that longed for the days when she’d been able to look at him and feel no more than a twinge of annoyance at his arrogance and total disregard for the rules. It had been so easy then, but now… Now she couldn’t look at him without thinking about everything she knew about him: his hopes and dreams, his lightning-quick mind, the way he laughed at a truly funny joke, the way he loved his mum. 

 

It was only further complicated by the way she felt about him now. It seemed that Jemma couldn’t get within a few yards of Fitz without remembering the feel of his curls beneath her fingertips or the way he could kiss her breathless. Just thinking about it now left Jemma’s heart racing, and she struggled to meet Fitz’ bright blue eyes from so close a distance. Even now, her gaze kept dropping to his lips, and Jemma had to scold herself. Now wasn’t the time, not with her father nearby and all of their classmates and their families in the other room waiting for graduation to start. 

 

“I shouldn’t even be valedictorian,” Jemma whispered. “I… you bombed that chemistry final on purpose, didn’t you?”

 

Fitz seemed to be just as fascinated with her, his eyes dancing over Jemma’s face even as he grinned in answer to her question. 

 

“Not sure y’ can call gettin’ a 94% bombin’ a test, but…” Fitz shrugged as he looked down at her. “I still managed to make salutatorian. Not too shabby.”

 

Jemma scoffed, rolling her eyes and glancing down to the floor before looking back at him. He was impossible, yet Jemma found the idea of ever going without him too difficult to bear. 

 

“You should be valedictorian, Fitz. Not me.”

 

“Jemma, you’re brillian’,” he whispered, stepping impossibly closer to Jemma, leaving a scant inch between them. “You’ve worked harder than me all four years. Y’ deserve this, tha’s all there is t’ it.” He reached for her then, one hand coming up to cup her cheek as the other lighted on her waist. Even through the heavy fabric, Jemma could feel the heat radiating off him, drawing her in. “Besides, now y’ can’t call me a know-it-all jerk.”

 

It was his smirk that did Jemma in, that bit of bravado that made him so damnably attractive to her. Leaning her cheek into his palm, she brought a hand to rest on his chest, her thumb skimming over the zip of his robe. 

 

“Oh, Fitz,” she whispered, readying herself to chide him over throwing away that kind of opportunity, but she never got the chance. 

 

Fitz used his hold on her to haul Jemma in for a kiss. It was sweet, and far lighter than she’d expected given how long it had been since they’d been able to do this. Fitz was of a mind, since it took no more than a moment for him to swipe his tongue across her bottom lip and Jemma readily opened for him. They clung to each other, fingers tightly wound into their graduation robes as they kissed, each exchange more heated than the last. 

 

Jemma was beginning to wonder if they had enough time to slip away and find a more private room when a sharp knock at the door broke them apart. Jemma turned away, thumb swiping at her swollen lower lip and sucking in a deep breath to steady herself. 

 

It was time to go, and Jemma and Fitz were pulled into a whirlwind of activity as they and their classmates graduated. From what she was told everything had gone smoothly; no one had embarrassed themselves during the ceremony and everyone had laughed in the right spots during her speech. It was heartening to hear, but Jemma couldn’t remember any of it, distracted as she was by a pair of impossibly blue eyes and the feeling of Fitz’ lips on hers. 


End file.
